Top 14 methods of slaughtering livestock and technology for cutting up carcasses at home

Slaughtering cattle requires knowledge of anatomy and practical experience. In meat processing plants, the process is divided into stages and takes place in accordance with sanitary standards. In private farms, bulls are slaughtered according to the same procedure as in production: they are stunned, the blood is drained, the skin is skinned and butchered. In cattle breeding, complex ancient and simple modern methods are known.

Which cattle are subject to slaughter

Healthy cows and bulls are subject to cutting for meat. Even if sanitary standards are observed on the farm, an inspection and conclusion from a veterinarian is required. If a bull or cow shows symptoms of an incurable disease that is dangerous to the entire livestock, they are also subject to slaughter. But the carcasses are not processed, but burned in animal burial grounds.

Dangerous cow diseases include foot and mouth disease, rabies, tetanus, and anthrax. After killing the bulls, an examination of the internal organs is carried out, since some parasitic infections occur without external symptoms. Sometimes an autopsy reveals an enlarged liver, riddled with passages of parasites. In this case, the cow carcass must also be destroyed.

The slaughter of healthy bulls and cows may be delayed for the following reasons:

• vaccinations;
• administration of antibiotics;
• treatment of parasites and non-dangerous diseases.

From the day of vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease until slaughter they wait 21 days, and against anthrax - 14 days. The killing of a calving cow is delayed for two weeks so that it can nurse the newborn calf.

Optimal time

Bulls actively gain weight up to ten months from birth. During this period, the natural growth of the body occurs, and the properties of meat breeds for the formation of muscle mass appear. Fattening cows helps achieve maximum results. After a year of life, with the end of physiological development, the weight gain of bulls slows down significantly and occurs only through fattening. Animals have a distended stomach, they eat a lot, but gain little weight.Therefore, farmers do not consider it rational to continue fattening and keeping cows.

Preparation for the process

The slaughter of cows in production is carried out after a veterinary examination of the animals and the preparatory period.

Veterinarian's permission

The slaughterhouse has a full-time veterinarian who conducts external inspections and measures the temperature of animals. If signs of treatable diseases are detected, the cows are prescribed treatment and then re-examined. If the bull is healthy, the doctor issues written permission and he is prepared for the next stage.

Cow preparation

A healthy animal is transferred to a separate stall. During the day, the cow is given a lot of water, but not fed. Fasting cleanses the bull's intestines, and during the procedure the skin does not get dirty and the room remains clean. Animals are not kept on a starvation diet for longer than a day, as the body begins to use up accumulated fat, and the slaughter yield of meat decreases.

Preparing cows for slaughter also includes:

• cleaning fur, hooves;
• measuring and calculating animal volumes;
• weighing.

Bulls are washed so as not to infect the meat with microbes when cutting the carcass. It is also important to keep the animals in a calm mood. Fear reduces the amount of lactic acid in meat. As a result, its color deteriorates and its shelf life is reduced.

Bulls should not be beaten, since the blood from the hematomas remains in the soft tissues during exsanguination. Areas of hemorrhage are cut out, losing some of the valuable meat.

What is necessary?

To slaughter bulls, farmers use:

• heavy hammer;
• twine with winch;
• knives.

Before killing, the cow is stunned with a sledgehammer so that she loses consciousness, but is not afraid.Meat processing plants use additional equipment and various methods to slaughter a bull. But what is common to slaughter on a private farm and in production is the draining of blood, skinning and removal of internal organs, for which sterile containers are prepared in advance.

To cut a cow carcass into pieces you will need an ax and a large cleaver. At the end of the work, the meat and liver are sent for storage in refrigerated chambers, and the cutting area is washed and disinfected.

Cattle slaughter methods

The main requirement for the cow slaughter procedure is speed and painlessness. Over the centuries-old history of cattle breeding, methods of varying degrees of humanity have been developed. Preference for a certain method is given depending on the weight of the bull, the place of slaughter and the professional skills of the slaughterer.

Stun with Bleeding

The ancient village method of slaughter is as follows:

• the cow's head is tied by the horns;
• they hit the forehead with a heavy hammer;
• hang;
• They cut the carotid artery and bleed.

In the old days, farmers believed that being hit by a hammer gave a cow a concussion. But to turn off the animal’s consciousness, it takes about fifteen blows. As a result, a seemingly simple method plunges the bull into agony and fear, and the blood does not drain well.

To determine whether the blood has drained completely, it is collected in a measuring container. The volume of blood in a cow's body is 7-8 percent of its weight.Therefore, before slaughter, it is necessary to weigh the animal, and then calculate the volume and percentage of blood drained. If it is equal to 3.5-4 percent of the total mass, the bleeding was successful and the meat is not spoiled.

Slow bleeding

An ancient way to slaughter a bull from the nomadic peoples of Northern Europe and Siberia: suddenly stab it in the neck with a long knife so as to pierce the heart. With an accurate hit, the animal quickly dies, and blood flows out through the cut artery in the neck.

Small bulls are slaughtered using slow bloodletting. They are easier to fix, since the fatal blow must be delivered accurately the first time. Due to an error when slaughtering a large bull, the meat will spoil, and the slaughterer may suffer from the hooves of a frightened animal.

Using a buterol with a cutter

Buterol is a special slaughtering tool that resembles a hammer on a long handle. On one side it looks like a cone-incisor. On the other side there is a hook. Buterol weighs almost 2.5 kilograms. A bull's skull is pierced in the frontal lobe with a sharp incisor to destroy the brain.

After killing, you can quickly move on to bleeding and cutting the cow carcass for meat. Without experience with buterol, slaughter is difficult to complete.

Slaughter with a mask

A buterol or chisel is also used to deliver a fatal blow to the bull's skull. But to make it easier to get to the desired area, a leather mask with a hole is put on the animal’s face.

While maintaining consciousness, the matter is completed with a metal or willow rod, which is inserted into a hole in the bull's skull.

Skull crushing

The following technology represents an attempt to put livestock slaughter on a conveyor belt:

• the bull is placed on a movable rail platform, fixing the body with the sides and the head with holders;
• the platform slides down at speed;
• Along the way, the bull hits his forehead on a metal crossbar.

The method was developed for automatic slaughterhouses. The meat of frightened bulls loses value.

Sigmund's method (mask with shooting)

The slaughterer puts a mask on the animal's face. Instead of a hole in the forehead, it is equipped with a metal plate into which the barrel of the gun is inserted and the trigger is pulled.

If the first animal dies calmly, then the next animal will be stressed.

English way

The essence of the method:

• a cow is stunned by a blow to the head;
• puncture the lung between the ribs;
• pump air, causing suffocation.

An English slaughterhouse patented this method of slaughtering bulls to obtain a rare steak.

Kalmyk method of slaughter

Kalmyks also valued fresh meat with blood, so the following method was used for slaughtering livestock:

• stunned a cow;
• cut through the sternum or back, exposing the heart;
• The main arteries were ligated.

Working on a living heart requires the skills and composure of nomadic Kalmyks.

Russian way

How cattle are slaughtered in Rus':

• they tie a string to the bull's horns and lower his head down;
• the string is pulled under the stomach and fixed;
• standing in front of the bull, they thrust a knife between the skull bone and the first cervical vertebra, pointing the tip forward;
• they hit the lower part of the neck with a knife to draw blood.

If a cow falls on its right side during slaughter, it will have to be turned over. Otherwise, it is impossible to reach the main arteries in the neck and let the blood flow.

Jewish method

The method involves the use of a specially sharpened knife to comply with the rules of kashrut.

The slaughterer and assistant act in stages:

• the bull's legs are tied, ropes are pulled so that he falls on his side;
• one person pulls the animal's head back;
• the second completely cuts the bull's throat along with the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord.

The Jewish method of slaughtering cattle is considered humane. But without a knife that cuts cleanly through the ox hair, the meat will not be kosher.

Using electricity

The method was invented by the Americans. Cows are stunned by electric shock.

Miners work in rubber boots, standing on rubber mats. For one-year-old cows, it is enough to apply 70-90 Volts for five seconds to turn off consciousness. At high power, the blood clots and the meat becomes unfit for food.

Industrial face

In production they use a combination of conveyor and pistol methods, but without a mask. The animals are brought onto a mobile platform and their heads are fixed with clamps. The conveyor moves to a machine with a pneumatic pistol, where the cows are stunned with a blow to the area where the horns and eyes intersect. At a meat processing plant, slaughter includes bleeding and skinning bulls. To do this, stunned animals are suspended by their legs.

At a slaughterhouse, each stage of slaughter takes place in a special room and sterile conditions.

Veterinary slaughter option

The method is based on the Russian method. The bull is stunned by a knife blow between the skull and the first cervical vertebra. Then they hit the same place again, but point the blade back.

Slaughtering cattle requires knowledge of anatomy and knife skills.

More modern methods of cattle slaughter

At large enterprises, the pneumatic gun is replaced with a gas chamber.

Carbon dioxide is supplied to the chambers.

Rules for processing carcasses

How to slaughter a bull at home:

• prepare a free area in the fresh air or room;
• place plastic film on the ground or floor;
• place a container nearby for collecting blood and organs;
• slaughter a cow with at least two people, preferably four;
• one person must have experience in slaughter and be a slaughterer or veterinarian;
• stun the bull in a convenient way;
• hang the carcass upside down;
• cut the veins in the neck with a sharp knife and let the blood drain into a placed container.

The carcasses of bulls and cows weigh 500 kilograms, some reaching a ton. Stunning, hanging and bleeding must be done very quickly, otherwise the meat will spoil. Therefore, an experienced miner and assistants must participate in the work.

Skinning and dressing

After bleeding, the cows begin skinning. Approximate diagram:

• ears are cut off;
• cuts are made around the nose, lips and horns;
• cuts lead from the nostrils to the horns;
• cut the skin on the limbs lengthwise;
• a dissection is carried out from the sternum to the groin;
• make a slit around the tail.

In the village, the skin is removed by hand, trimming with a knife, from a hanging bull or laying it on the ground. At the end, the head and hooves are cut off from the carcass down to the knee and hock joints.

Properly dried bull hide remains soft and odorless.

How to remove animal entrails

Removal of internal organs is called evisceration. Using the procedure, valuable liver is extracted, but first the intestines are removed. Feces remain in the digestive tract, despite the cow's daily fast. Also dangerous is the microflora, consisting of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria.To avoid contamination of the meat, the organs must be removed within the first forty minutes after the bull is slaughtered. It is more convenient to carry out gutting on a suspended carcass:

• ligate the esophagus;
• cut the cow's chest down the middle;
• cut the sternum and fusion of the pelvic bones;
• remove the intestines, bladder and gall bladder, cutting the supporting ligaments;
• the remaining organs are removed;
• Use a knife to clean the inner walls of the carcass from the remains of the ligaments and diaphragm.

Opening the abdominal cavity of a cow must be done carefully so as not to damage the walls of the intestines, urinary and gall bladder. Otherwise, bile and biological fluids containing decay products and bacteria will spread throughout the soft tissues. But the meat can be saved if you quickly wash it with water and potassium permanganate.

The organs are placed in containers and examined. If tumors or traces of helminths are found, the entrails are discarded. To determine whether it is safe to eat meat from a cow with damaged organs, the presence and opinion of a veterinarian is required.

Carcass cutting

To butcher a bull carcass, it is cut in half along the spine. The resulting half carcasses are divided in half - sawed between the twelfth and thirteenth rib.

The parts of the carcass have their own names and differ in the types of meat and purpose:

Butchers use different types of cutting knives:

• ax knife - for frozen meat;
• boning - for separating cartilage;
• universal or fillet - for cutting parts.

Cow carcasses are stored before cutting at a temperature of 0...-4 degrees. After cutting, the meat matures for two weeks at a temperature of +1-2 degrees. Ripening increases the shelf life of products.